Spotlight
by 3ll3
Summary: What will happen on Saturday in Seattle that Edward thinks will cause Bella change her mind and may affect their developing “friendship”? ALL HUMAN.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

_**(AN: Hello and welcome to my first Twilight fic. This fic follows closely to the book for the first couple chapters, anything that looks familiar to the books of the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. Please don't be discouraged in reading my story; the similarities in the chapters only last for the 5/6 chapters then everything gets better in chapters7/8. So, without further a do, enjoy!)**_

CHAPTER ONE

It was there in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with several curious strangers around me, that I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were four of them, talking and eating plates of food that I didn't think the cafeteria offered. It was harmless to stare at them without the fright of meeting their eyes, because unlike most of the other students, they weren't staring at me. However, it was none of these things that caught and held my attention.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the two boys there, one was big – muscular like a serious weight lifter – with dark curly hair. The other one was taller, leaner but still muscular, with a head of honey blond.

The girls sat contrary to them. One was tall and statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the one you saw on _Sports Illustrated_ swimsuit issue – the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. She had gently wavy golden hair that went to the middle of her back, and when all four of them laughed, she would sometimes flip her golden waves over her shoulder as if to emphasize them. The second girl – short and pixie like – seemed to laugh the hardest. She was thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointed in every direction. But just as notable as their variety of hair tones, each of their eyes were a distinct colour. Even though I was at a distance, I could tell that each pair was unique.

And yet, they _were_ all alike. Each one of them was pale, paler than all of the students living in this sun less town. They were just as pale as me, the albino. In addition, all their features were straight, perfect, and angular.

Someone beside me called my name; tearing me from the four beautiful individuals across the room. But as I turned, the door to the cafeteria opened, catching my attention. In walked a boy who had what looked like a gym bag slung over his shoulder. With his back tuned to me, he made his way over to the corner of the cafeteria towards _their_ table. He took a seat with them and retrieved a bottle of water from his bag, and turned towards the tiny girl in front of him. And just like the four sitting at the table the newcomer was beautiful, and just as pale. He was lankier and less bulky, with untidy, bronze-coloured hair.

I continued to stare because their faces, so different, so similar, were all overwhelmingly, maliciously stunning.

"Who are _they_?" I asked the girl from my trig, whose name I'd forgotten.

She looked up to see whom I was talking about – although probably already knowing from my tone who I was asking about.

She giggled, "They're the Cullens. That's Edward and Alice Cullen, Emmett McCarty, and the two blonds – who everyone things are twins – are Rosalie Hale and Jasper Whitlock."

"But I thought –."

"They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife. So everyone calls them the Cullens." Jessica said answering my question before I could even finish it. Looking at the five siblings, I wondered how they were all connected to each other. I voiced my question.

"Oh, they're not. They're all adopted by Dr. Cullen. He's really young, in his twenties or early thirties." Jessica answered.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah, Dr. Cullen, He works down at the hospital."

"Oh. Have they always been with Dr. Cullen?"

"I'm not quite sure, though I do know that Edward's been with Dr. and Mrs. Cullen the longest."

"That's really kind of nice – for them to take care of all of those kids like that, when they're so young and every thing."

"I guess so," Jessica acknowledged halfhearted. I got the feeling that she didn't like the doctor and his wife very much for some reason. I would assume the reasons envy because of the glances she was pitching at their adopted children. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though." She added as if that narrowed their kindheartedness. Throughout the whole conversation, my eyes flickered repeatedly to where _they _sat.

I watched as Edward took a small drink from a water bottle. _Strange, unpopular names_, I thought watching Edward take a drink from a water bottle. They seemed more of the kind your grandparents would have. I guess that was in the mode here – small town names. I suddenly remembered the girl I was talking to was named Jessica, just like two girls back home in my History class. Jessica was a very common name.

"He probably just finished his run." She whispered secretly.

"His run?" I questioned, just as quietly.

"Yeah, Edward runs for about fifteen to thirty minutes every day before lunch." Jessica said in a matter-of-fact manner, while still looking at Edward Cullen. I turned my head slightly, looking back at him. I saw that he had placed the gym bag beneath his chair along with a pair of running shoes. But he didn't even look remotely tired.

"Well, no not every day, but he does most of the time. I think the only reason why he wouldn't run at lunch is if it's raining really hard outside or something like that," She said as if she was recalling a memory. "Other times though, when he's not running, he's playing in the football field out back with his siblings."

At first, I was going to drop the subject, but after a few minutes of silence, I couldn't resist – the Cullens officially caught my attention.

"Why does he run before lunch?" I asked.

"I don't really know," she answered puzzled.

"Do they all run just before lunch?"

"No, only Edward. But they are all very athletic."

"Even the girls?" I could see the golden haired girl more on a Victoria Secret runway ratter than on something like a soccer field. And the tiny girl looked too tiny to play any kind of sport without getting hurt.

"I already told you. They're _all_ very athletic. Both Rosalie and Alice participate in almost all of the female sports and sports team. Emmett is the captain of just about all of our school teams, and if he isn't then one of his brothers are." She said under her breath. Looking back across the room and sized I up, what seemed to be her favorite Cullen. He looked more boyish that the other two boys.

If there was a perfect American family, it would be them. And as if the perfect family image they pulled together wasn't enough, they were all individual beautiful. It was hard to decide who was the most attractive – perhaps Rosalie, the perfect blond girl, or Edward, the bronze-haired boy. I continued to observe the American family. Edward Cullen received a plate full of food, that I was not aware of before, from the pixie like girl. He looked to his sister before he brought a fork of pasta to his mouth. The girl said something, which made Edward's eyes leave his plate and suddenly flicker to mine. He looked away idly raising his eyebrows at his sister, his expression holding no interest, while his eyes held questions. In a flush of embarrassment, I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief glance I could tell that his eyes were not a shade of brown like my own, but a remarkably brilliant colour, just as unique as the four pairs around him. He took a swig of his drink and engaged in conversation with the four other beauties.

"They are all…very nice looking." I struggled with the obvious understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica answered giggling – obviously a common gossiper. "They are all together though – Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they all _live_ together." Her voice held all the shock and criticism of the small town, I thought critically. However, if I was being truthful, I would have to confess that in Phoenix, it would cause even more gossip.

Throughout the whole conversation, my eyes flickered repeatedly to where _they _sat.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. I would have definitely noticed them on one of my summers here.

"No," Jessica answered. Her voice implied it should be apparent, even to a new arrival like me.

"They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska." Alaska? Well I guess, unlike me – a girl from the valley of the sun – that would be the reason for their pale skin colour. I felt relief to know that I was not the only newcomer here, and by far was not the most interesting by any standard. It was a relief to know I would not be on the receiving end of unwanted attention for long with the Cullens attending this school. And I was thankful for that.

But as I was sneaking another peak, the youngest one, Edward, suddenly looked up and met my gaze again. This time however, I could clearly tell that curiosity was present in his expression. I looked quickly away. His glance seemed curious, though very confused.

"Edward is the one with the reddish brown hair, right?" I asked, faking the questioning in my voice and hiding my curiosity. I peeked at him from the corner of my eyes and saw that he was still staring at me. However, he was not gawking as the other students were doing today – he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.

"Yea, that's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wonder how and when he turned her down.

I bit my lip in an attempt to hide my smile. I then glanced at him again and saw that his face was turned away. His attention appeared to be on his food, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling too.

Suddenly the tiny girl, whose name I believe was Alice, slung a pretty gym-like bag and tiny pink ballet slippers over her shoulder. I watched as the small girl got up with her empty lunch tray. She walked with a swift, elegant lope that belonged on a runway. The golden haired girl may look fit for the catwalk, but the small girl had the steps to match. I gazed in amazement at her lithe dancer's step, until she glided out the exit, a little faster than I thought possible. My eyes turned back to the others and noticed that they all seemed to have some sort of gym bag or another beside them.

"Ballet?" I asked looking at Jessica questionably. Jessica looked at me.

"Alice is probably off to get ready for dance." Jessica answered with slight bitterness in her voice

"Dance? This school has a dance program?"

"We have a few of extra curricular activities, but not dance. Dancing is what she does sometimes during lunchtime." Jessica said with very little emotion. I guess this little town had a bit more to offer than I thought. Not that it would matter or make any of a difference. My only guess was the Cullens dominated all of them just like sports.

After a few minutes passed, the four of the remaining siblings got up – grabbing their individual gym-like bags – and left the table together. They all seemed to have a certain degree of gracefulness in their walk – even the big, muscular one. It was unsettling to watch them.

One of my new acquaintances – who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela – had Biology II with me the next hour. Together we walked in silence to class. I guess she was shy too; she wasn't big on conversation.

When we entered the classroom and Angela went to sit down, she already had a neighbor. In fact, it looked like all of the blacktopped lab tables – the same ones that I was use to using – were filled but one next to the centre aisle. I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair colour, sitting beside that single open seat.

I watched him clandestinely as I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed. As I went past him, he looked up at me as if he was about to speak. But instead he sat frozen in his seat staring up at me with the strangest expression on his face. He looked irritated, as if he lost a bet. I quickly looked away shocked, going all red. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table – causing the girls sitting there to giggle.

Thankfully, I made it to the teacher's desk without further difficulty.

I could tell that Mr. Banner, the Biology teacher, and I were going to get along great. He signed my slip – he didn't do any trivial nonsense of introductions – and handed me a book. Unfortunately, he had to send me to the only empty seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes to the ground as I went to go and sit beside _him_: still confused at he look he'd given me. Without looking up, I set my books down on the desktop. I noticed from the moment that I sat down his posture changed. When I first walked in to the class, he seemed more relaxed and welcoming, almost bored. But now his posture appeared unreceptive, as if he didn't want me beside him. He was leaning away from me, almost sitting on the farthest edge of his chair. His face was averted as well – as if he smelled something bad. Discreetly, I sniffed my hair. Its scent seem innocence enough. It smelled like strawberries, the fragrance of my favorite shampoo. I allowed my hair to drop over my right shoulder, creating a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher. Disappointingly, the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something that I had already studied. Nevertheless, I took notes carefully, always looking down.

However, I couldn't stop myself from peeking sporadically through the screen of my hair. In addition, I noticed that he never acknowledged me once or looked my way. He talked to a few people sitting around him and/or a few seats away. That is everyone but the one person that sat beside him, me. The people he socialized with seemed only too eager to talk with him and answer his questions so they could continue in conversation with him. Though he would reply when appropriate he seemed distracted. I also observed that everyone in the class seemed be taking notes but him, making me wonder why he chose not to.

"… acting as a control centre." Everyone in the class began snicker at what Mr. Banner just said. I looked around the class in confusion; I couldn't understand what was so funny.

I turned to Edward shyly, who was also laughing – though it didn't seem natural, "What is every one laughing about?" I asked timidly, afraid of his reaction. Before the words even left my mouth, he suddenly stopped laughing. As he turned his head a fraction towards me not looking at the girl or me – his face seeming more averted than when he first looked at me when I walked in.

"It's a joke from last year." He answered sharp and abruptly. All of this took only three seconds. He didn't even spare me a side glance. After that, I didn't ask him anything else, hoping to make the seating arrangement more tolerable for him. I could see that he had his hands and whole body was somewhat relaxed when he was talking to someone around him, but when I asked him a simple innocent question he went completely cold. When he was talking to someone, I noticed he would pause for a moment when I shifted in my seat as if he was irritated. And so I tried not to move more than necessary. During the whole class, he never stopped drumming his fingers on his left leg – like there was somewhere else, he need/wanted to be.

He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbow, and I saw how surprisingly muscular his forearm was beneath his fair skin. He wasn't nearly as slender as he'd appeared next to his burly brother.

Biology class seemed to drag on longer than the other classes. Was it because the day was finally ending, or was it because I was waiting for him acknowledge me? I question my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as harsh as I thought. Could this really be Edward's normal behavior?

It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve. I peeked up at him one more time, and met his eyes. He was glaring back down at me for a second time, his green eyes full of loathing. The phrase _if looks could kill _suddenly ran through my mind. I flinched away from him, shrinking against my seat.

Suddenly the bell rang and at that moment, two things happened. One: I jumped and two: Edward Cullen was out of his seat. In a classy manner, he rose (he was much taller than I thought) with his back to me, and he was out the door when only three people had made it out of their seat.

I stared blankly after him in my chair, frozen. Not only did he answered my one question in a very snappy behavior and was out the door before anyone else was – as if he wanted to get away from me. I gathered my things slowly; trying to block the anger that filled me, fearing my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was wired to my tear ducts. I habitually cried when I was angry, an embarrassing tendency.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voiced asked.

I looked up and saw a cute, baby-faced boy smiling at in a friendly way. He had his pale blond hair that I randomly noticed, carefully gelled into orderly spikes. Well at least he didn't think I smelled bad.

"Bella." I corrected him, with a smile.

"I'm Mike."

"Hi Mike."

"Do you need any help finding you next class?"

"I'm headed to gym; actually, I think I can find it."

"That's my next call, too." He seemed delighted, though it wasn't that big of a chance in a school this small.

We strolled to class together; he was a talker – he supplied the majority of the conversation, making it very easy for me. Mike lived in California until he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. He was the nicest person I'd met today, and was really friendly.

But as we entered the gym he asked. "So did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? He seemed kinda weird. In class today, he seemed talkative and he's not much of a talker. And he doesn't usually laughs at Mr. Banner's random jokes. Now that was really weird" Mike paused as if to recall a memory before continuing. "I've never seen him act like that. Adding to the fact that he doesn't really talk to anyone he really seemed distracted. He wasn't his usual contented self." The side of Mike's mouth twitched upward for a brief second, almost as if he was going to smile. "I guess he wasn't himself today." He said quietly more to himself – with a look of amusement in his eyes – in what sounded like a sarcastic tone.

I recoiled. So I guessed I wasn't the only one who noticed. And from what from what he told me, apparently, that _wasn't _Edward Cullen's usually behavior. I decided to play dumb.

"Edward Cullen," I said in phony confusion, "Was that the boy that I sat beside in biology class?" I asked simply; bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," he answered, "He looked kinda uncomfortable. I couldn't really put my finger on it."

"I wouldn't know," I replied, "I never talked to him." Well, I didn't really. I asked him a question and he answered back in a rude manner. I wouldn't count that as talking to him.

"He's an okay guy. He's no special than the next." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the change room. "If I were luck enough to sit beside you, I would've talked to you." he said joyfully to me.

I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly favorable. Nevertheless, it was not adequate to relieve my frustration.

Coach Clapp, the gym teacher, didn't make me dress down for class, even though he found me a uniform. Here, P.E. was compulsory all four years, while back home just two years were needed. Forks was plainly my own personal hell on Earth. One there was no sun here; two: my most accident-prone subject, gym, was a requirement for all four years; three: I was a curiosity, a girl from a big city, and four, it was too green! It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. But everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves. This town was an alien planet.

When the final bell rang, I walked to the office to return my paperwork. I wrapped my arm around myself to shield my body from the now strong and colder wind. Well at least it wasn't raining.

I gratefully walked into the warm office. When I saw who was standing at the desk in front of me I almost turned around to head back out into the cold.

I recognized yet again that windswept bronze hair. He seemed to be in some sort of important conversation with receptionist about his schedule, but he seemed to stress sixth-hour Biology. Due to the strong wind, the door took a bit longer than usual to close. However, as soon as the door shut Edward Cullen paused in mid-sentence flashed his head around to see who had entered. I was sure Edward saw me but he just ran his ran through his hair and turned back to the receptionist before his eyes could meet my own.

He continued in quiet conversation for a little while longer and then sighed. "Never mind, then," he said hastily finishing in a kind voice. "I understand. Thank you so much for your help." He said politely and then turned around – without a glance at me – and slipped through the door, which a girl was just coming through. He smiled at the girl – leaving her dazzled – and thanked her for holding the door for him, but politely made her go through first. His actions and manners towards the girl seemed so perfected but yet natural; almost second nature. Soon as the girl stepped in, he leisurely walked out the door. The girl placed a few papers in a wire basket and walked out of the office, still in a daze. I wonder if I really did do something to him that I may not have noticed biology class. The way that he acted towards the girl seemed more of the "normal" Edward Cullen from what Mike told me. I've only attended the school for a day and already I had some who didn't like me.

I modestly went to the desk, my face white for once ratter than its usual red, and handed the receptionist the signed slip.

"How did your first day go, dear?" she inquired tenderly.

"Fine," I lied, my voice frail. She didn't look convinced.

**AN. Feel free to ask questions and make comments on things you did or didn't like. Suggestions would also be great. But most importantly PLEASE REVIEW!!**

**The more reviews the faster the I'll update.**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

**DISCLAIMER:** Sadly, none of the characters belong to me...they are all the wonderful creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Okay so here's the second chapter. Sorry for the long wait. There were a few problems that I noticed when I was I was about to update and I had to fix them. The more reviews I get the fast you'll get the next chapter. And just because the second chapter was posted later then I wanted you'll see the third chapter later on in the week.Anyways, enough of me, enjoy the story.

CHAPTER TWO: Day Two

The next day was better because it wasn't raining (though the clouds were opaque) and I knew what to anticipate in my day. The drive to school was very much a blur, probably because I was tried. All thanks to the wind echoing around the house. I didn't realize that I'd reached to school until I stepped out of the truck. Mike sat next to me in English, and walked me to my next class. All the while, Eric – a boy who looked like the excessively helpful chess player type, with skin problems and black hair – was glaring at him; which was slightly flattering. During lunch I sat with a big group of people at lunch, including Mike, Jessica, Eric, and a whole bunch of other people whose faces and names I could now remember. People weren't looking at me as much as they had yesterday and just as I predicted, the attention was slowly returning to the Cullens. Today I was beginning to feel like I was treading in water rather then drowning in it.

Though I wasn't raining – which I thought would equal a overall good day – outside, it might as well have been raining. Along with my tiredness, Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when I didn't even have my hand up, and I accidentally gave the wrong answer. And I had to play volleyball in gym, resulting in me hitting one of my teammates in the head with the ball. But that wasn't even the worst.

Throughout the entire morning, I was dreading lunch, fearing Edward strange glares and confused looks. A part of me wanted to go up to him and ask demand to know what his problem was. However, that was only part of me. I even imagined what I would say to him, but no matter how long I practiced and imagined what I was going to say I knew myself to well too know that I didn't have the guts to go through with it. To prove my suspicion false I hoped that he would just simply ignore me.

When I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica – trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for _him_ and failing completely – I saw all of the Cullens except Edward. His siblings were laughing and talking, just like the day before. But something about the way they were behaving seemed off; I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Before I cold read any more into it Mike intercepted Jessica and I, and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed jubilant by the attention she was receiving, and her friends quickly joined us. I tried to listen to their easy chatter but everything that they said seemed to fade into the background. I was terribly uncomfortable and nervous as I waited for the moment when Edward would arrive. I sat in my seat hoping he was just a little late or decided to run a bit longer today.

But as the time past I grew more and more tense. By the end of lunch, he still hadn't show up and I didn't see him as I walked to Biology. I felt more confident that I wouldn't be greeted with the same look he gave me yesterday – because of his absence. Mike, who was taking on the traits of a golden retriever, walked faithfully at my side. When I reached the biology building, I held my breath at the door and walked in. when I saw that Edward wasn't in his seat I exhaled. I was relived now that I knew I wouldn't have to sit through another class of his strange behavior. Mike lingered by my desk talking about an upcoming trip to the beach until the bell rang. He smiled at me longingly and went to take his seat next to another student. I had no practice dealing with over-friendly boys but it looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable. At first I thought he was just being friendly because I was the new student but as the attention returned back to the Cullens he continued to act the same way. It was just weird. No one could most likely keep or have a secret in this town.

I was relived that I had the whole desk to myself. However, I couldn't get the irritating feeling that I was Edward's reason for not coming to school today. To think that I could affect anyone so strongly was absurd and narcissistic. It was impracticable. Yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was the truth.

I gunned my deafening engine to life at the end of the day – ignoring the heads that turned my way – and dug through my bag to make sure I had everything. I backed carefully out into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot.

As I waited to leave the parking lot, I noticed the four Cullens siblings. They received attention and greetings from everyone they passed by.

The path made for them though the crowd of people looked a lot like the parting of the Red Sea. I could imagine any, if not all, doors were open to them by the amount of beauty and poise they carried. I could see how this bought them much acceptance.

Rosalie, who looked like she was in a rush, pulled along Emmett who looked like he wasn't in any hurry. Emmett smiled, and acknowledged some of the boys by giving them some high- fives as he was tugged along. Rosalie seemed to hardly acknowledge anyone in her haste and appeared to have only two things on her mind: her destination and getting Emmett and herself there. Alice on the other hand appeared to socialize some degree with everyone that she walked by. Walking – sometimes stopping and standing– next to Alice with his hand on the small of her back was Jasper. When Alice would go astray, stopping to talk with someone, he would apologetically excused Alice and himself by smiling politely and then would guide Alice back on their path.

The four of them eventually reached their car and piled in. It was that shiny new Volvo I noticed yesterday in the parking lot. Of course. Seeing the type of car they had made me realize that I had not noticed their clothes before – I'd been too mesmerized by their faces and how happy and together they always seemed to be. They could have all worn dishrags and pulled it off. Now that I took the time to look, it could clearly be seen that they were all dressed outstandingly well and simple, but in clothes that ingeniously hinted designer origins. Rosalie and Alice's apparel however hinted a bit more than Emmett and Jasper's attire. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. Nevertheless, as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. And it looked like it bought them attention and approval.

Just like everyone else, they looked at my loud truck as I passed them. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relived once I finally was free of the school grounds. The previous night Charlie was quite eager to stand to the side when I requested that I be assigned cooking detail for the period of my stay. I came to this decision when I discovered that Charlie couldn't cook anything more than eggs and bacon, and the lack of food in the house gave him very limited choices. So I had every reason to make a trip to the Thriftway.

The Thriftway was not too far from school, just a few streets south off the highway. It was nice to be in the supermarket; it felt ordinary. Back home I did the shopping so I fell into the recognizable task willing; I almost forgot where I was.

I only had a few remaining things on my list that I couldn't seem to find. I stood in an aisle and blankly stared from the list in my hand to the shelves in front of me. I looked around to see if I could find someone who could help me. There was only one other person standing in the aisle.

"Excuse me but I was wondering if you know what aisle I can find marinade in?" I asked when I was behind the lady.

"Sure, it's a few aisles over to the left," The lady replied turning to face me "If you want I could show you." I stared back at the young lady.

"Uhh…yes, thank you." There seemed to be a handful of beautiful people living in this town.

In front of me stood an amazingly elegant woman. She had pale skin with remarkable features. There was just something about her heart-shaped face and her billows of soft, caramel-coloured hair, which reminded me of the ingénues of the silent-movie era. She was small, slender and fairly angular_._

"It's no trouble at all; it's just two aisles over. Marinade is a bit of a tricky one; it's not exactly out in the open." She replied in a friendly tone. I followed her as she turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

"Here they are," she announced when we reached the aisle, "Is there one that you are looking for in particular?" she asked when we came to a stop.

"No, not really. I'm planning to use it with steak."

"Well when I'm cooking steak I don't put anything on it. A really nice piece of steak tastes great just how it is. However if you're broiling it," she paused and looked at the shelf of marinades, "This tastes great on steak, fish or any kind of meat." she said picking a bottle and showing it to me, "but I personally like to use my own marinades however if I don't have time to make it then I use one of these. They're great for just about anything." She point to a few on the top shelf. "I find that they taste better than the others." she finished. I looked at the different jars she singled out and then the one she had placed in her basket. They all looked promising.

"I think I'll try this one." I answered, reaching for the same one she had first taken. The woman smiled at me sweetly when she saw which one I had placed in my basket. "It would have taken me a lot longer if it wasn't for you. Thank you…" I trailed off realizing I didn't know her name.

"How very rude of me, where are my manners?" She held out her hand. "My name is Esme." she smiled. "It's very nice to meet you," she continued genuinely. Her warm, soft grasp was just as I expected.

"My name is Bella. It's nice to meet you, too." And it was. It was like meeting a fairy tale – Snow White, in the flesh.

"Bella. That's a beautiful name is it short for something?"

"Yes, Isabella, though I prefer Bella."

"Then Bella it is." She replied, buoyantly sincere.

Esme and I decided that she would help me look for the remaining things on my list and keep each other company. If there was one other thing I now knew about Esme – besides knowing where everything in the store was that she loved to cook. Every recipe, every single type of food, she had at least three different ways of cooking it. She told me stuff I would have never have thought of trying or putting together. Unlike my mother's unpredictable cooking, Esme's creations sounded edible and promising.

We talked about different recipes and spices that go really well with each other. However, Esme came up with most of them; even arrangements that I thought wouldn't go well together. She shared with me different ideas for breakfast meals to desserts and entrées.

We exited the supermarket together still talking and carrying our respectable bags – Esme carrying a bit more than what I had expected.

"I'll try that some time." I said with a smile after Esme had told me another one of her recipes.

"And I'll try that one you told be about." She replied. I mentally patted myself on the back. I had mentioned a recipe that Esme had never tried or heard of.

I had parked my truck near the front – lucky enough to be pulling in as someone was pulling out – so I didn't have to walk far with my grocery bags.

"It was nice meeting you Esme." I said stopping at my truck, reaching for my keys in my pocket with my free hand.

"And it was nice to meet you too!" she replied. I smiled and turned around opening my truck, placing my bag in the passenger seat. "Oh, that's your truck." she stated as if in realization. I nodded my head in agreement. "Then you must be Chief Swan's daughter, I've heard quite a bit about you. I saw your truck when Chief Swan was parking it on the street in front of his house; he was telling me it was for his daughter."

I was expected, a topic gossip of no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last. This situation seemed a lot like the first day of school with the receptionist in the office. I remembered how the large, red-haired woman's eyes immediately lit up with awareness behind her glasses when I told her who I was. However, Esme appeared truly welcomingly with no hint of gossip in her eyes or actions.

"Well, I hope you'll like it here in Forks." I looked at her with skepticism.

Liking Forks was a _real _long shot. Its Forks were I now exiled myself – an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.

I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat of the vigorous, sprawling city. I loved things about Phoenix that Forks could never give me. Although I had said my goodbyes to the sun – one of the many things Forks lacked – before I left Phoenix.

"And don't worry about the rain, it'll grow on you." She added, smiling amusingly. "Well I better get going," she said, with a smile still playing at the corner of her lips, "nice to meet you again Bella, hopefully I'll see you around."

"Sure." I replied smiling. I enjoyed shopping with Esme; she didn't seem like the other people I met.

As Esme walked away, I got into my truck and turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. I careful backed out of my space and into the parking lot.

I stared my truck and drove out of the parking lot. By the time I left the parking lot, I hadn't seen Esme. I thought I would have left the parking lot before her, seeing as how she had to walk farther to get to her car, but she was nowhere in site.

When I got home I unpacked groceries, stuffing them wherever I could find space, hoping Charlie wouldn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of an egg carton in the fridge. I decided to use the marinade Esme recommended, another time because there was already one open in the fridge.

Once I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a ponytail, and checked my e-mails for the first time. I had three messages, all of which were from my mom.

When I finished answering my mother's frantic e-mails, trying to clam her as best I could, I decided to read_ Wuthering Heights_ – yet again for the fun of it_. _We were currently studying the novel in English. And that is what I was doing when Charlie came home. I'd lost track of time, and hurried down stairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in to broil.

"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.

Who else? I thought to myself.

"Hey, Dad, welcome home."

"Thanks." He answered. "What's for dinner?" he asked warily, after he had hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots.

"Steak and potatoes," I replied.

"Okay," Charlie seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen not doing anything, "well, if you need me I'll be watching TV."

"All right dad." I answered as he left the kitchen as I continued to work on dinner. I found that we were both more comfortable that way.

As the steak cooked, I took the things that I would need for making a salad and put them on the counter. I washed and cut the salad and put it in a bowl. Once I was finished with the salad I took out plates and set the table.

"Dinner's ready." I called as I placed Charlie's plate of food on the table.

He sniffed approvingly as he walked in to kitchen.

"Smells good, Bell."

"Thanks."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable and neither of us was bothered by it. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.

"So, how did you like school? Did you make any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.

"Well I have a few classes with a girl name Jessica and I sit with her at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everyone seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid – nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off of the backpackers who come through here."

The way Charlie talked about Mike and his family reminded me of how everyone in this town lived on top of one another.

"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked as normally as I could.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man. Everyone knows him."

"The kids...all seem really nice." I said, excusing Jessica bitterness.

"They're all really kind people. Everyone in this town would agree" He answered, "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon. He's really great at his job, he could probably work in any hospital in the world and make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, each word expressing how fondly he thought of the doctor. "We're lucky to have him – lucky that his wife wanted to live in such a small town. His wife is a good lady, and a fine cook too. Dr. Cullen and his family are an asset to the community, and all of those kids are so well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all of those teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature – I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should – camping trips every other weekend and going away sometimes for some of the summer and winter holidays." Charlie said in an admiring voice, "I guess you could call them the perfect all- American family." Charlie added with a chuckle.

It was the longest speech I'd ever head Charlie make. He, along with the others, must really be fond of the Cullens.

"They all seem really friendly, but I noticed that they kept to themselves. They're all really attractive," I added, stating the obvious.

"You should see the doctor and his wife," Charlie said laughing. "It's a good thing their happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around. And let's just say that the male coaches sometimes have a hard time paying attention to the game, whenever his wife is out at one of their kids' sports games. Like I said before they are the perfect all-American family." I noticed that he didn't say anything to comment on what I said about how the Cullens keep to themselves. The isolation they seem to have, to some extent from the rest of the town/student body must be their desire because they all are clearly admired. Well I guess I wasn't totally right about _all_ the people in this town living on top of one another.

We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started the dishes. He went back to watching the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand – no dishwasher – I went upstairs unwilling to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making.

That night it was finally quiet and I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

**DISCLAIMER:** Sadly, none of the characters belong to me...they are all the wonderful creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for the reviews and alerts. Sorry for the late chapter I was really sick all last week, but the chapter is up now and to make it up to guys this chapter is longer (but this doesn't mean that the up coming chapters are going to be as long) I hope you enjoy it. And as for those of you that are wondering what's Edward's problem towards Bella...well you all are just going to have wait and see. Please keep the Reviews coming.

CHAPTER THREE: Swim Practice

When Friday came I was completely comfortable entering my Biology class, and no longer anxious that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he no longer attended school. Though I tried not to think of him, I couldn't repress the feeling that I was the reason for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed. I sat though all of my classes in a slight daze, no longer trying to pay attention. All the lessons that were thought were things I already learned, with the exception of math, which I didn't like so it didn't count.

I was about to open my truck door when I saw Esme walking in the parking lot.

"Hi Bella!" Esme said walking over to me.

"Hi Esme," I replied.

"Are you going to watch the football practice?"

"I wasn't planning on staying; I didn't even know that this school had a football team." I didn't even think that small school had teams at all. I guess this school has a lot more things than I thought.

"Well if you don't have anything to do you could watch the practice with me. I just have to – "

"_beep beep beep_."

"I just have to go home and get something."

"Okay, I guess I'll wait for you. . ."

"_beep_ _beeeep_."

"I'll be back in just a few minutes." Esme said over her shoulder as she began to jog away,

I watched as Esme disappeared into the crowd of students.

**--**

"BLUE 36 RED 49. HUT!"

I sat on the bleachers with Esme, watching the football team as they practiced. I don't know much about football, or any sport for that matter, but the team looked really good. Especially Emmett, who I assumed was the quarterback and the captain because he seemed to be the best player on the team.

"Okay that's enough," Coach Clapp said blowing his whistle, "hit the showers."

The football team, along with other people that were sitting on the bleachers, began to leave.

"Well, was nice to see you again Bella." Esme said smiling sweetly, as we stood up. "I usually come to most of the practices and games so maybe I'll be seeing you around."

"Okay." I replied as we walked down off the bleachers.

"Oh there's Coach Clapp. Sorry do you mind, he said he had something to speak to me about." She said apologetically.

"That's fine." I said as Esme smiled at me thankfully and began to walk off towards Coach Clapp. I put my hood on and started walking to the school parking lot as I felt it beginning to drizzle. It had been drizzling on and off today.

"So much for making it home before it rained."

**--**

And so the weekend came. I assumed Charlie, who was not use to spending time in the usually empty house, would be working most of the weekend. So I cleaned the house; got ahead on my homework, emailed my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mails, then I did a drive to the library.

I walked out the library disappointed. It was so poorly stocked that I didn't even bother getting a card; I'd have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly as I walked out of the library to my truck what kind of gas mileage the truck got . . . and shuddered at the thought.

When I got to my truck I noticed a group of people coming into the parking lot. I recognized most of the kids from school who were getting out of their cars. I also noticed a shiny sliver Volvo among the rest of the parked cars. I got into my truck and started the engine when I heard someone call my name. I turned and saw Jessica standing beside the building waving at me.

"Hey Bella!" Jessica said jogging over to me.

"Hi Jessica." I replied cutting the engine.

"Are you here to watch the swim practice?" she asked.

"Swim practice?"

"Yeah, swim practice. They only allow people to watch the first three practices, this being the second one."

"They?" I asked confused.

"The Cullens, Bella," Jessica replied as if it were the most obvious thing. "You should come and watch."

"Umm . . ." What if Edward was there. Would he give me the same antagonist stare he'd given me in Biology and the cafeteria? Or would he act indifferent and treat me like everyone else? Why am I even worrying about this, Edward clearly wasn't at school because of things unrelated to me. Besides, if I go home now I could start on my homework and maybe email my mom.

"Bella!" Someone else called. Looking past Jessica I saw Mike standing at the front entrance. "Are you coming to watch the swim practice?" he yelled over.

"I guess." I replied more to myself, climbing out of my truck. Agreeing only because I didn't want to disappoint anyone.

I sat in the bleachers with Jessica and two of her friends, Angela and Lauren. Emmett and Jasper were the only people on deck when we got in – who were both relatively wet, but not really soaked. Jasper wore a long sleeves white shirt and tan swim trunks and Emmett wore red swim trunks and a light blue t-shirt.

Suddenly Rosalie walked out of the girl change in a strawberry red one-piece bathing suit. A white towel hung from her shoulder. Although I pictured Rosalie in a two piece bathing suit she'd most certainly would look amazing in both. Her figure was as impressive, if not more, with her swimsuit on. The red really brought out the paleness of her skin and golden hair, which was up in a perfect ponytail. As she walked past Emmett and Jasper, she tossed Emmett her towel. Walking over to the edge of the deck, she dove in amazingly into the water and went straight into a front stroke.

Shortly after Alice exited the girls change room. She also wore a one-piece bathing suit, which was a bright canary yellow. Her cropped back hair seemed to be wet. Rather than her sticking to her face, it stood on end, pointed in every direction. She had more of a dazzling dainty pixie body figure. With dancers steps she made her way over to sit with Jasper and Emmett.

The deck slowly began to fill as people made their way out of the change room. Mike along with other boys and girls I recognized from school stood on the deck. The boys all seem to be wearing similar attire as Emmett – swimming trunks and a t-shirt. The girls wore their bathing suits with their towel wrapped around them – as if they were insecure about their body.

"Are they waiting for something?" I asked turning to look at Jessica.

"They're waiting for Edward; he's the captain of the swim team."

Edward. I almost forgot about him, seeing as how he wasn't in school the rest of the week. I had pushed him to the back of my mind.

Suddenly Rosalie was climbing out of the pool – her golden hair cascading down her left shoulder – and began to walk over to a room, which that had a sign over the door reading POOL OFFICE. After a while, she exited the office with a clipboard in her hand and her hair in a perfect ponytail – her towel still hung over her shoulder.

"I don't know, Coach Clapp but I'll tell him." Rosalie replied standing in the doorframe of the office. Coach Clapp? Leaning over the railing of the bleachers, I saw Coach Clapp sitting behind a desk in the office.

"Is Coach Clapp coaching the swim team?" I asked turning to Jessica

"No, he's only supervising. The Cullen's do all of the coaching themselves."

Rosalie left the office and walked over to Alice, Emmett and Jasper. Once Rosalie reached her siblings, she began to speak quietly amount themselves. Rosalie seemed really irritated as she talked to them.

Suddenly – after a few minutes of quiet whispers – Emmett handed Rosalie her towel and they walked over to the other boys and girls.

"Hello everyone." Jasper said in a very pleasant voice smiling at the people in front of him. I suddenly felt very happy and welcomed and he wasn't even talking to me. Jasper really seemed like a person that you just couldn't help but be happy with. His brother and sisters stood behind him, Rosalie looking less than pleased.

"Hi!" everyone replied back, some girls a bit more ecstatic than others.

"Today we're going to be doing things a bit differently," whispers suddenly filled both the deck and bleachers. Jasper continued, "I'll be couching both the freestyle and breaststroke. My brother and sisters will be coaching what they usually coach. Rosalie: front stroke; Emmett: backstroke and Alice: butterfly."

I could feel the confusion and the slight tension in the room. There were many whisper about Edward, "why he wasn't coaching freestyle", and if "the list" was going to be posted today.

"Edward's not coaching today and – " Rosalie started saying.

"And," Jasper said cutting off Rosalie – giving Rosalie a firm look, "it's only for today."

"Sure it is." Rosalie said rolling her eyes.

"Okay then lets start!" Alice added enthusiastically stepping beside Jasper. Alice then turned around, walked over to the edge of the pool deck and dived expertly in the water. I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding, feeling more relaxed in my seat. Edward wasn't here, so I don't have to worry about his strange glances. Which was the only reason that I came in with Jessica and Mike, if I was being honest with myself?

"Jessica I have things at home that I need to go and do." I said standing up.

"Really, are you sure?" Jessica said looking doubtfully at me, "They haven't even started yet."

"Yeah," I answered looking down at the deck, "I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Okay, see you Monday." Jessica replied.

I sat inside my truck for a while just staring blankly out the window. Why do I care so much about Edward Cullen? He's just another boy; he's just one with a weird personality. Whatever, it's not my problem that he didn't show up at school for the rest of the week. It's just a coincident he didn't show up the day after my first day at school. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

"Why am I worrying?" I said aloud turning the key and the engine roared to life. The whole way back to Charlie's I was angry at myself for being mad at Edward Cullen's strange behavior. However I couldn't repress the feeling that was responsible for his continued absence and behavior.

By the time I got home I couldn't remember why I was mad and felt really stupid for being mad at something I couldn't even remember.

People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English – Mike took his accustomed seat beside me – we had a very easy, straightforward pop quiz on _Wuthering Heights._

Overall, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly at each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, and nose.

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

"Ew." Snow. There goes my great day. I watched the little cotton fluffs building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.

I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Throughout the morning, every one chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the New Year. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept my mouth shut and kept a binder in my hands, ready to use as a shield if necessary. Sure, snow was drier than rain – until it melted in your socks. Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snow ball at me herself.

Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. Jessica and Mike talked animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced towards that table in the corner out of habit. No one was there. Not one person. Then the door opened and five people walked in all laughing.

Jessica pulled on my arm.

"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"

I looked down; my ears were hot. I reminded my self that I had no reason to be self-conscious. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"What's wrong with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.

"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.

"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.

Once they got their food, I followed them to a table, my eyes still on my feet.

I took a few sips from my soda and Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feeling. I told him it was nothing. After thinking about escaping to the nurse's office for the next hour, I decided that it was ridiculous and shouldn't have to run away.

I permitted myself one glance at the Cullen's table. If he was glaring at me then I would skip Biology, like the coward I was.

Keeping my head down I glanced up under my lashes and saw that none of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a bit more.

They were all laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair completely drenched with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair towards them. Like everyone else, they were enjoying the snowy day. The only difference was they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us. I observed Edward the most carefully. Looking at him now it was somewhat hard to believe that he had looked at me the way he did last week in school. He was different somehow. His skin was flushed – from the snow fight maybe. But that wasn't it. I narrowed it down to something in his personality. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad – for me that is.

"Bella, what are you looking at?" Jessica encroached, her eyes following my stare.

"It's nothing." I said, not looking away.

"Well it must be something if your still . . . Oh" she said, as if coming to a realization, "Your looking at Edward Cullen."

At that moment, his eyes wondered over and meet with mine.

I dropped my head, allowing my hair to fall and conceal my face. I was sure though in the instant our eyes met, he didn't look irritated or unfriendly as he had the last time I saw him. He looked purely curious again, confused in some way.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.

"He doesn't look irritated, does he?" I couldn't help asking.

"No'" she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I put my head down on my arms – I still felt queasy.

"The Cullens don't like really like anyone...but they don't really like anyone either. They don't really notice or socialize enough with anybody, besides with each other, to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," I hissed.

Jessica snickered, but looked away nonetheless. Lifting my head enough to make sure she did, considering violence if she resisted.

For the rest of the lunch hour I carefully kept my eyes at my own table while Mike talked – after interrupting Jessica and I – about a snowball fight he was planning in the parking lot after school. Jessica, who had agreed enthusiastically, looked at him like there was no doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I'd have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.

Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation of disappointment. To many peoples disappointment – but mine – by the end of lunchtime it was no longer snowing, it was raining. Everyone had groaned in unison. I was secretly pleased.

I kept my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.

I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but I kept my eyes carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk permitted, but his chair was angled towards me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled – despite that, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, and a slight smile graced his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

I didn't know what to say, my mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of any thing to say.

"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."

I grimaced. I know it was something like that.

"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie – I mean my dad – must call me Isabella behind my back – that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like a total moron.

"Oh." He let it drop. I looked away awkwardly.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started the class at that moment. I tried to pay attention as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides inside the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't allowed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.

"Get started," he commanded.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.

"Or I could start if you wished." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was mentally proficient.

"No," I said, flushing. "I'll go ahead."

I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and knew what I was looking for. It should be straightforward. I snapped the first slid into position beneath the microscope and adjusted it swiftly to the 40X objective. I deliberate the slid briefly.

My appraisal was certain. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me as he asked. His fingers were really cold, probably from the snow fight before class. Our hands looked the same, yet different, all at the same time. Our hands were equally quite pale, aside from the slight flush he had. But it was also clearly seen that his hand and long angelic fingers were much more stronger than mine. However, that wasn't why I jerked my hand away so quickly. I wondered if we felt the same thing. When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back instantly. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched him, still staggered, as he inspected the slide quicker than I had.

"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He switched the first slid for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.

"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.

"May I?" I asked, keeping my voice indifferent.

He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.

I looked through the eyepiece keenly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right.

"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him. He handed it to me; it appeared as if he was trying to be careful not to touch my skin again.

"Interphase." I said putting on the most fleeting look I could manage. I passed him the microscope before he could ask me for it.

Hetookaquickpeek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it down while he looked though the microscope but his elegant script was intimidating.

We finished before anyone was even close. I could see that many other groups where having trouble. This left me with nothing else to do but try not to look at him . . . unsuccessfully. I glanced up and saw that he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of question in his eyes.

I looked down. His fingers were drumming rapidly on his left leg again.

Mr. Banner came over to our table, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the finished lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.

"So Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.

"Bella," Edward corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five slides."

Mr. Banner now looked at me with a skeptically.

"Have you done this lab before?" he asked

I smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."

"Whitefish blastula?"

"Yeah."

He nodded. "Were you in an advance placement program in Phoenix?"

"Yes."

"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." Mr. Banner mumbled something as he walked away. Once he was gone, I started doodling on my notebook again.

From the corner for my eye, I saw that Edward had angled his chair the slightest in my direction. I probably wouldn't have noticed if all of my undivided attention was on doodling on my notebook. From my peripheral vision, I noticed him staring at me, in a manner as if he wanted to say something.

"So why did you move from the sunny state of Arizona to the cloudy northwest Washington State? You don't like snow, the cold, or the wet." Edward asked suddenly, in a confused tone.

I looked at his beautiful emerald eyes. A big mistake, which I realized a little too late.

--

Just then, Mr. Banner called the class to attention, and I turned with relief to listen. I was in disbelief. I had just explained my monotonous life to this weird, gorgeous boy who may or may not loathe me, and I couldn't understand why. From the complexity of why I moved to Forks; my mother getting married last September; whether or not I liked her new husband – Phil – and why I decided not to stay with them, to the fact that I sent myself to Forks, and not my mother. During our conversation, he had guessed right that I was suffering more than I let anyone see. I had resisted the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, tried to ignore him, and asked him why he cared. "That's a very good question," was the only answer I got out of him. However, throughout our talk, he'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, always staring at me with obvious curiosity and with penetrating eyes – and he unnecessarily got frustrated, once. But now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands folded together with definite tension. And then suddenly he relaxed slightly.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward inquired. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make polite conversation with me. Paranoia swept over me again. It was as if he knew about my conversation with Jessica at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong.

"Not really," I answered truthfully, instead of pretending to be like everyone else. I couldn't concentrate because I was trying to extricate the stupid feeling of suspicion.

"You don't like the cold." I wasn't a question.

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.

"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.

For some reason that I couldn't imagine he looked fascinated by what I said. His face was such a distraction that I tried not to look at it more than courtesy absolutely demanded.

I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.

"Am I annoying you?" he asked, sounding quite amused. Almost proud like he had accomplished a task.

I glanced at him without thinking . . . and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at my self. My face is so easy to read – my mother always calls me her open book." I frowned.

"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and he guessed, he really sounded like he meant it.

"You must be a good reader than," I replied

"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultrawhite teeth.

"Okay then," I said with amusement "if your such a good reader what's Mr. Banner thinking?"

"That's not even a challenge." Edward replied confidently. "I could probably tell you what everyone in this room is thinking."

"Perhaps," I said with a grin, "So Mr. Mind reader what is Mr. Banner thinking?"

"Mr. Banner is probably thinking about what he's always thinking about."

"Which would be?"

"A question." He said in a matter-of-manner.

I was puzzled. "A question?"

"Yeah, Mr. Banner is always trying to stump me with some question."

"Why?" I asks, still confused.

"Around the beginning of school year he asked the class a bunch of questions, just to see what we remembered from last year."

"Yeah some of my teachers did that question asking game too." I replied remembering how my history teacher Mr. Gingerly asked a bunch of questions on the first day of school. I also remembered that his question asking game didn't survive past five questions.

"Mr. Banner's game didn't go as he had planned." He said amusingly.

"What happened?" I asked truly interested, but was still puzzled.

"Well let's just say that his game went on a little longer than he expected." He replied smiling again.

--

For the remainder of the class I tried to seem attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, on the overhead with transparencies, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were uncontrollable.

The bell finally rang.

"Nice speaking with you Bella." Edward said politely standing.

"Okay." I replied looking up at him.

Before Edward could leave the classroom, Mr. Banner called him up to his desk. I turned away and began to pack up my books. Just as I looked up at Edward and Mr. Banner, I saw that they were just about finished. Mr. Banner seemed slightly amazed while Edward looked simple humble.

As Mr. Banner began putting some of the paper on his desk Edward turned to leave. He caught my eye he smiled and I read his lips as he mouthed 'A question'. And then just as Edward had done on Monday he walked swiftly and elegantly from the room.

And, like Monday, I stared after him in amazement.

I'm so stupid. He says, "Nice speaking with you" and all I can think of to say is "okay." And all I did was stare at him dumbly as he mouthed 'A question.' Nice job Bella.

Mike pranced quickly to my side and picked up my books for me. I imagined him with a wagging tail.

"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."

"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by his assumption. I regret the snub immediately. "I've done the lab before, though," I added before I could get his feelings hurt.

"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it.

"I wonder what was with him last Monday." I said trying to sound indifferent.

I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and P.E. didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my badminton team today and considerately covered both of our positions. So my daydreaming was only interrupted when it was turn to serve; my team ducked cautiously out of the way each time I was up.

Though the rain was just a mist as I walked in the parking lot, I knew I would be happier when I was in my dry cab. I saw Edward walking beside one of his older brothers – I believe his name was Emmett – also making their way to the parking lot. Edward looked over at me and I smiled but all he did was quickly look the other way. What is his problem? First, he acted all weird and mean last Monday, then he's all nice and sociable today, and now he's all weird again. Once I was in the cab I got the heater running, not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine for once. Unzipping my jacket and putting my hood down, I fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry my hair on the way home.

I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed Edward Cullen's still, pale figure leaning against the front door of the Volvo – three cars down. He was staring attentively in my direction. Looking swiftly away I threw the truck into reverse, nearly hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my hast. Fortunately for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake just in time. Still looking out the other side of my truck, I took a deep breath and carefully pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead, as I passed the Volvo. However, from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him laughing. Well at least someone got their humor back. I don't think I'll ever understand Edward Cullen.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

**DISCLAIMER:** Sadly, none of the characters belong to me...they are all the wonderful creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. Some of the familiar passages also belong to Stephenie.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ** Here's the fourth chapter, enjoy. Please remember to review

CHAPTER FOUR: Phenomenon

I jumped up and looked outside when I noticed that the light this morning was clearer because no fog was veiling my window. I groaned in horror at what I saw. A fine blanket of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. However, that wasn't the dreadful part. All of the rain from yesterday had frozen solid – covering the needles on the trees in extraordinary, beautiful patterns, and turning the driveway into a lethal ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now. Clearly, today was going to be a nightmare.

I quickly downed breakfast, feeling excited to go to school, and that scared me. I knew that my only reason – if I were to be honest with myself – was my eagerness to see Edward Cullen. Was that ever stupid.

After my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday about my dull life, the obvious thing to do would be to avoid him entirely. But then again...we did have a pleasant conversation about his and Mr. Banner's little question game. Nonetheless, I was still tongue-tied whenever I pictured his perfect face. I was well aware that my league and his league were worlds apart, which is why I shouldn't be by any means anxious to see him today.

Driving to school, I preoccupied myself from my fright of falling – which almost happed coming down the drive way and my unnecessary assumptions about Edward Cullen – by thinking about Mike and Eric. There was a noticeable distinction in how teenage boys responded to me here. I was certain I looked exactly the same as I had back in Phoenix. Perhaps it was that the boys back home had watched me undergo all the awkward stages of adolescence and still thought of me that way. Possibly because I was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Maybe my crippling clumsiness cast me as damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behavior and Eric's noticeable enmity with him were bewildering. I wasn't certain if I preferred being unnoticed.

When I reached school and got out of my truck, I discovered why I'd had so little trouble driving with the black ice covering the road. Something sliver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck – carefully holding the side for support – to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. My throat suddenly felt tight. Who knows how early Charlie had gotten up to put snow chains on my truck – thankfully preventing the truck from carving a path of annihilation though Main Street. I wasn't accustom with being taken care of, and Charlie's silent concern caught me by surprise.

I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to battle back the quick wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard my name called by an extremely familiar voice. I turned to see who had called my name but suddenly heard an unusual noise.

It was a piercing screech, and it was quick becoming excruciatingly deafening. I looked up startled.

I saw numerous things simultaneously; nothing was moving in slow motion. The adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much more rapidly, and I was capable to absorb in clear detail several things immediately.

Edward Cullen was standing at the front the front of my truck, staring at me in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all stationary in an identical facade of alarm. But of more pressing significance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and shrieking against the brakes, spinning uncontrollably across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, and I was standing between them. I didn't even have time to close my eyes.

Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something grabbed me. I was pulled against something strong and firm and then I fell with it to the ground. My head cracked against the icy blacktop, and I felt something solid and warm pinning me to the ground. I was lying on the pavement in front of the tan car I'd parked next to. Though the van had hit the back of my truck, it was still moving. It had curled roughly around the end of the truck, still spinning, sliding, and collided with the back of the tan car. If I had landed behind the car, the van would have collided with me instead.

A low curse made me alert that some was with me, and the voice was unfeasible not to identify. I suddenly rolled over, causing the person to land on me, pinning me to the ground again. The van had forcefully bumped the car from behind causing it to slide to a stop a foot from my face. A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears and the van and car settled, glass bursting, onto the asphalt – exactly where my body had been a second ago.

It was utterly silent for one long second before the screaming started. In the sudden mayhem, I could hear more than one person calling Edward and my name. But more than all yelling, I could here Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.

"Bella? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange. I attempted to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp.

"Be careful," he cautioned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

I became aware of the throbbing pain centered above my left ear.

"Ow," I said, astonished.

"That's what I thought."

"Where in the..." I trailed off, trying to get clear my head, and get my bearings. "Where did you come from?"

"I was standing at the front your truck, Bella," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh,"

I turned to sit up, and this time he let me, releasing his hold around my waist. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his emerald-coloured eyes. What were we talking about?

And then the Cullens found us, followed by a swarm of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other and at us.

"Don't move," someone instructed.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted.

There was flood of commotion around us. I tried to get up but Edward's hand pressed my shoulder down.

"Just stay put for now."

"But it's cold," I complained. It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath.

I suddenly remembered something that happened before I saw the van swerving towards me, "You called my name." suddenly his chuckle stopped short.

"Yes I did call you name," he replied with amused expression, "I called your name to see if you were alright, seeing as how I assumed you hit your head."

"I mean before any of this happened. You call my name."

"No I didn't" he replied with a stern expression.

"I heard you." All around us was bedlam. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene. But I adamantly held on to our dispute.

"Bella," he said, pausing for a second, "I was going to class, and as I was walking by your truck I saw the van coming and pulled you out of the way. That's all." He unleashed the full, overwhelming influence of his eyes on me, as if try to communicate something vital. He was going to say something else and I was going to get him to say it.

"No." I set my jaw.

The emerald in his eyes blazed. "Please, Bella."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming. I could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to tell me later?"

"Fine," he snapped, hastily exasperated.

"Fine," I repeated back.

It took six EMTs and two teachers – Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp – to shift the van far enough from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward strongly refused his. When I had tried to do the same the traitor informed them I'd hit my head and possibly had a concussion. Almost dying from mortification, when they out on the neck brace, I looked around and saw what looked like the entire school. They all watched me soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Edward got to ride in the front. It was infuriating.

To make matter even worse, Chief Swan arrived before they could take me safely away.

"Bella!" he yelled in alarm when he recognized me on the stretcher.

"I'm completely fine, Char – Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

He turned to the nearest EMT for a second opinion.

I tuned him out to think about the jumble of images in my head. When they'd lifted me away from the car, I had seen the damage done on the back of the tan car; the spot where I was standing before Edward pulled me out of the way. The whole half of its bumper and tail light was destroyed, including its complete back right tier.

Then there was his family, looking on from a distance as they got into the sliver Volvo. Their expressions ranged from disapproval and fury to concern and relief for their brother's wellbeing.

Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. Feeling ridiculous, the entire time they were unloading was made only worse when Edward merely glided though the hospital under his personal authority.

I grounded my teeth together.

--

When the nurse finally walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro of the stupid-looking neck brace and threw it under the bed. They had put me in the Emergency room, a long room with a line of beds divided by pastel-patterned curtains, which no one had bothered to close to give me privacy.

There was another flood of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class underneath the blood stained bandages wrapped tightly around his head. He looked a hundred times wore than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.

"Bella, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine, Tyler – you look awful, are you all right?" I asked as nurses began unwinding his dirty bandages, revealing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.

He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you I was going so fast, and I hit the ice wrong..." He winced as one of the nurse stared dabbing at his face.

"Don't worry about it; you missed me,"

"Yeah, I saw when Edward pulled you out of the way. I thought I was going to hit both of you. Where is he any ways," he said looking around as much as the nurse would allow him, "Is he okay!"

"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."

I knew Edward was going to say something to me before the accident. But what was it?

They wheeled me to X-ray my head even thought I told them that nothing was wrong. And I was right; not even a concussion. When I asked if I could leave the nurse said I had talk to the doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER. As I was waiting, Tyler incessantly harassed me with numerous apologies and promises to make it up to me. Regardless of how many times that I attempted to convince him I was fine, he continual tormented himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling.

--

"Is she sleeping?" a melodic voice asked. My eyes flew open.

Edward was standing at that foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy – it would have been more natural to ogle.

"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry –" Tyler began.

Edward lifted his hand to stop him.

"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed, facing me. He smirked again.

"So, what's the verdict?" he asked me.

"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't tied down to a gurney like the rest of us?"

"It's all about who you know," he answered. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."

Then a doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. I heard a slightly chuckle. He was young, he was blond...and he was just as handsome as any movie star I'd ever seen, if not more. He was pale, though he seemed to have a bit more of colour than I did. Like he'd just come back from vacationing somewhere sunny. From Charlie's description, this had to be Edward's father.

"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in an astonishingly charming voice, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I said, hopefully for the last time.

He walked over to the light board on the wall over my head and turned it on.

"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine," I repeated with a sigh, pitching a swift scowl towards Edward.

The doctor's fingers probed lightly along my head. He noticed when I winced.

"Tender?" he asked.

"Not really." I'd had worse.

I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's condescending smile. My eyes narrowed.

"Well, your father is in the waiting room – you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eye sight at all.

"Can't I go back to school?" I asked.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

I glanced at Edward. "Does _he_ get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said smugly.

"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected, "Edward you need to call you mom first and see what she says."

"But Dad you said,"

Dr. Cullen lifted his hand to stop Edward.

"Fine, I'll call her." Edward replied defeated.

"Soon." Dr. Cullen added a bit more firmly.

I smiled proudly at Edward, who in return glared back at me.

"Anyways, most of the school seems to be in the waiting room. There may or may not be school today."

"Oh no," I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"

"No, no!" I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopped down too quickly. I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me, and looked at me concerned.

"I'm fine," I assured him. There was no point to explain that my balancing had nothing to do with me hitting my head.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he recommended as he balanced me.

"It doesn't hurt that bad,"

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish.

"Lucky Edward happened to be standing near me," I modified with a hard glance at the subject of my statement.

"Well, yes," Dr. Cullen agreed, smiling at Edward, and then occupying himself with the papers in front of him. He smiled once more at me before turning his attention to Tyler, and walking to the next bed. My intuition flickered; the doctor knew something that I didn't.

"I'm afraid that _you'll_ have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.

As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Edward's side.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked under my breath. He took a step back from me, his expression suddenly irritated.

"Edward." Dr. Cullen called, "Don't forget to call your mom; you gave her a fright you know."

"I was going to call her right now, I didn't forget." Edward replied

"Well, your brothers and sisters are in my office, so you can use the phone in there."

"Oh, great," Edward said just under his breath, "Okay," He added louder

"Edward," I pressed, "I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind."

"Your father is waiting for you and I have to make a phone call." he said though his teeth.

"It will just take a minute." I hissed under my breath.

He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon we turned the corner into the short corridor, he spun around to face me.

"What do you want?" he asked with cold eyes, sounding annoyed. "I have to call my mom."

His coldness intimidated, me causing my words to come out with less sternness than I'd wished-for. "You owe an explanation," I reminded him.

"I saved your life – I don't owe you anything."

I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "You promised."

"Bell you hit your head, you don't now what you heard or what you're talking about." His tone was harsh.

My temper flared now, "There's nothing wrong with my head." I said glaring boldly at him.

"What do you want Bella?" he said glaring back at me.

"I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know what you were going to say."

"Why do you _think_ I was going to say anything?" he snapped.

It all came out in a rush.

"All I know is that you were standing at the front of my truck – I heard you call my name. That van was going to crush me, you pulled me out of the way and then when I said I heard you call my name you paused. You were going to say something else..." I could hear how foolish it sounded, and I couldn't continue. I was so mad I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back by grinding my teeth together.

He stared at me skeptically. But his face held an amused expression.

"You think I was going to say something else?" his tone questioned my judgment, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor.

I merely nodded once, jaw tight.

"Why does it matter if I was going to say something? It doesn't matter."

"I know that." I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger, "It not like I going to tell anybody. What do you have against me anyways?"

Surprise flitter across his face. "Then why does it matter?"

I noticed that he dismissed my question. Maybe if I pressed a bit he would come out and say why he didn't like me.

"It matters to me," I insisted. "People will probably be asking why you were at the front of truck and I don't like to lie – so you better have a good reason why I'm going to lie for you."

"I'll deal with anyone who asks." He answered abruptly, "Can't you just thank me and get it over it?"

"Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"No."

"In that case I hope you enjoy disappointment."

We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in risk of being sidetracked by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroyed angel.

"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.

He paused, and for a brief instant, his stunning face was surprisingly vulnerable for a second before he became angry.

"I don't know," he whispered more to himself. "I have to go call my mom." he \ answered harshly.

And then he turned his back to me and walked away, turning right down a hall.

I was so angry; it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hall.

As I was walking down the hall, I heard voices and the closer I got to the exit the louder the voices got. I continued making my way down the hallway and saw a door slightly ajar. Inside the room I saw Edward sitting in leathered chair a behind a dark oak desk. He was talking to someone one the phone – who I assumed was his mother – while his other siblings sat in one of the two chairs facing the desk or on the edge of the desk.

"You just can't help but save a damsel in distress, now can you Edward? Poor Bella doesn't stand a chance." I heard a deep voice ask mockingly. I paused at the door when I heard my name and flattened myself up on the wall beside the door.

"It looks like we just about won this bet Emmett." Another male voice added happily. "Edward, you practically lost the bet the minute you agreed to it."

"No one has won any thing," I heard Edward opposing, "and when some one actually does win that some one is going to be me and yes mom I'm still listening." Edward's voice slowly faded off.

"Who cares about the stupid bet? Edward almost got himself killed this morning." This time an enraged female's voice replied loudly, causing me to jump slightly.

Suddenly a short, pixie like girl was in front of me. I was so engrossed in the Cullens conversation that I didn't hear her approach. I stood there staring at Alice, startled, waiting for her to rat me out to her sibling. Alice looked up at me with her amazingly crystal gray eyes, which contrasted beautifully with her deep black hair and fair completion. Then Alice just smiled and winked at me and walked into the room.

As soon as Alice entered the room, I turned and walked briskly down the hallway. I didn't want to still be standing in the hallway if she ratted me out. I tried not to run – not wanting to say in the hospital longer than I had to.

--

The waiting area was more unpleasant than I feared. I seemed like ever face that I knew in Forks was there, staring right at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands.

"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured him morosely. I was still aggravated and wasn't in the mood for chitchat.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Doctor Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed. Mike, Jessica, and Eric were all there, walking over to meet on us. "Let's go," I urged.

Charlie placed one hand behind my back, not quite touching me, and guided me to the exit. I waved awkwardly at my friends, hoping to express that they didn't need to be concern any longer. It was a huge relief – the first time I ever felt that way – to get into the cruiser.

We dove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I barley knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Edward's shifty behavior in the hall was a confirmation that he did not only was the voice I heard say hello but he was also going to say something else. But was it all that important that I know?

When we got into the house is when Charlie finally spoke.

"Um...you'll need to call Renée." He hung his head, guilty.

I was appalled. "You told Mom!"

"Sorry."

I slammed the cruiser's door a litter harder than needed on my way out.

She was in hysterics of course. I told my mom that I was fine at least thirty times before she calmed down. She begged me to come home – forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment – but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought. I was consumed by Edward the strange behaviors he presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I wasn't as eager to escape forks as I should be, as any normal, sane person would be.

As I was eating dinner I remembered the conversation Cullens had back at the hospital. I think it was Emmett's voice I heard say that I didn't stand a chance. Stand a chance against what? Then Jasper said that it looked like they just about won the bet. What in the world was the bet? And why did it have Edward so worked up about it? Then there was the whole question on whether or not Alice rat me out to her siblings. Edward didn't even answer any of my question like he promised he would. I left the hospital with way more questions than I had before and not even one had been answered.

Charlie continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting my nerves. So I decided I might as well go to my bed early night. On my way, I stopped to grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. They helped to ease the pain, I drifted off to sleep.

That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

**DISCLAIMER:** Sadly, none of the characters belong to me...they are all the wonderful creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. Some of the familiar passages also belong to Stephenie.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ** Here's the fifth chapter, enjoy. Please remember to review

CHAPTER FIVE: Provocations

In my dream it was a mixture of colour that all seemed to be radiating from Edward's body. I couldn't see his face, and I could hardly see the back of his head. Jessica and many other girls stood off to the left, all of them wanting his attention and shouting his name. He walked away from me, – and the other girls – leaving me in the sea of colour. I ran as fast as I could, trying to catch up to him – eventually leaving the other girls behind. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called he, never turned around. Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and could sleep again for what felt like a very long time.

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and at first embarrassing.

To my dismay, I found myself the centre of attention for the rest of the week. Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. No matter how hard I tried to convince him what I really wanted was for him to forget all about it – especially since nothing really happened to me – but he remained insistence. He followed me between classes and sat at our now-crowed lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan. Oh, joy.

Of course, Edward was also the centre of attention. Not that there was a difference between the attention he received after the accident and before. But it was like I was watching him or cared, I just happened to notice. Crowds of curious bystanders eager for his first hand account always surrounded him – that is if he was at school. Because just like the second day of school, he was not present, leaving me as the centre of attention. However sometimes not only him but all of his siblings would not be in school. But when he returned to school, with a goggle tan line, on Wednesday everyone eased up on me – with the exception of Mike, Eric, Tyler and a few other – giving me a chance to breathe. Jessica, followed by Lauren, especially was constantly asking Edward about what happened and seemed to always be one among the crowd. Though I explained over and over that Edward was the hero – how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. The attention that Edward Cullen and I received was most of the time fifty/fifty.

The number of people at his table always remained five. At first a lot of people would make their way to _their_ table, only a few built up the nerve to sit there but no one stayed for more than a few minutes. All in all the Cullens sat at the same table as always, eating non-purchased cafeteria food, talking and laughing among themselves. Sometimes Alice, Emmett, or Jasper would glance my way. However, Edward didn't glance my way anymore.

When he sat next to me in class, leaning away from me, he seemed totally unaware of my presence. Sometimes he looked like he wanted to say sometime to me – but he would always catch himself before he did – I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.

He probably wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van – there was no other conclusion I could come to.

I wanted very much to talk to him, and the day after the accident, I tried. The last time I'd seen him, outside the ER, we'd both been so furious. I still was angry that he wouldn't tell me the truth. And he did take care of all of the people who asked why he was standing at the front of my truck. The thing that was going around was that he dropped his car keys and when he looked up he saw the van heading towards me and pulled me out of the way. Yeah, I'm _sure_ I dropped his keys. But he had in fact saved my life, no matter what he was doing – or was going say – before he did. Besides, overnight all the heat of my anger faded into awed gratitude.

He was already seated when I got to Biology, staring directly ahead. I sat down expecting him to turn towards me. He showed no sign that he realized I was there.

"Hello, Edward," I said pleasantly, to show him that I was going to behave myself – deciding not to shove all the attention on to him.

He turned his head a fraction to wards me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked straight ahead.

And that was the last contact I had with him, though he was there, a foot away from me every day. I watched him sometimes, unable to stop myself – from a distance though, in the cafeteria or parking lot. I watched as his lightly sun kissed goggle tan got lighter as the days passed or get darker after day or few days of absent. The tan line just seemed to add to his god like features. But in class I gave him no more notice that he existed than he showed towards me. I was miserable. And the dreams continued – sometimes with the other girls other times just me and him, always in the distance and out of reach.

Despite my outright lies, the mood of my e-mails alerted Renée to my depression, and she called a few times worried. I tried it convince her was just the weather that had me down.

At least Mike was pleased by the obvious coolness between me and my lab partner. It was clear that he'd been worried that Edward's daring rescue might have impressed me, and he was relieved – along with many others – that it seemed to have the opposite effect. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of the table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Edward as completely as he ignored us.

--

The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, though, as the weeks passed.

Jessica made me aware of another event ominous on the horizon. She called the first week of March to ask my permission to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girls' choice spring dance in two weeks.

"Are you sure you don't mind...you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted when I told her I didn't mind in the least.

"No, jess, I'm not going," I assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of abilities. "Actually I though you were going to ask Edward Cullen." She was sometimes – seeing as how she was always one people in the crowd that sometimes surrounded him.

"No, but I was thinking about it." Jessica answered, "But so many other girls will mostly likely be asking him too, I could nerve build up the courage to ask him. Besides, I wouldn't know when I'd ask him. Either there's too much people near him or he strangely disappears. And even if I did get a chance I won't even know what to say. Anyways, I've never seen Edward go a school dance."

"Oh."

"Anyways, it will be really fun, you." Her attempt to persuade me was halfhearted. I had a feeling Jessica enjoyed my inexplicable popularity more than my actual company.

"You have fun with Mike," I encourage.

The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. As she walked by my side between classes, she was silent and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.

My fears were only strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet.

Mike was still quiet as he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn't broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. As always, I was electrically aware of Edward sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were nothing more than an invention of my imagination.

"So," Mike said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."

"That great." I replied making my voice bright and animated. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."

"Well..." He hesitated, as he examined my face, clearly not happy with my reply. "I told her that I would think about it."

"Why would you do that?" I permitted disapproval colouring my tone, though I was relived that he didn't give Jessica an absolute no.

His face was bight red as he looked down again. Pity shook my resolve.

"I was wondering if...well, if you might be planning to ask me,"

I paused for a second, hating the wave of guilt that swept through me. But from my peripheral vision, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my direction.

"Mike I think you should tell her yes,"

"Did you already ask someone?" I wondered if Edward realized how Mike's eyes flickered in his direction.

"No, I'm not going to the dance at all."

"Why not?" Mike demanded.

I quickly made new plans, not wanting to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented.

"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. I need to get out of town anyway – it was suddenly the perfect time to go.

"Can't you go some other weekend?"

"Sorry, no," I said. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer – it's rude."

"Yeah, your right," he muttered, and turned, crestfallen, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my finger to my temples, trying to push the remorse and empathy out of my head. Mr. Banner began talking. I sighed and opened my eyes.

And Edward was staring at me curiously, that same familiar edge of irritation in his emerald eyes.

I started back, stunned, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead he continued to stare with prying intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away. My hands started to shake.

"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called seeking the answer to a question that I hadn't heard.

"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, appearing reluctant as he turned away.

As soon as his eyes released me, I looked down at my books, trying to find my place. Cowardly as ever, I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me – just because he happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was beyond pathetic, it was unhealthy. So for the rest of the period I tried very hard not to let him know that I was aware of him – seeing as how trying to not be aware of him was impossible.

The bell rang and I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.

"Bella?" his voice sounding as if I known it my whole life, rather than just a few short weeks.

Unwillingly, I slowly turned. Not wanting to feel what I knew I would _fell _when I looked at his too-perfect face. My expression was wary when I finally turned to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything.

"What? Are you speaking to me now?" I finally asked, an unintentional not of petulance in my voice.

His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.

I closed my eyes and slowly inhaled through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. He waited.

"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's simpler this way, really."

I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.

"I don't understand what you mean." I said, my voice guarded

"It's simpler if were not friends." He explained. "Trust me."

My eyes narrowed. I'd headed _that _before.

"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier." I hissed though my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."

"Regret? Regret for what?"

"For not just letting the stupid van squish me."

He was astonished. He stared at me in disbelief.

He almost sounded mad when he finally spoke. "You think I regret saving your life?"

"I _know_ you do," I snapped.

"You don't know anything." He was suddenly amused.

I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw against all the things I wanted hurl at him. I was so confused at how fast his emotion change. First, he sounds somewhat mad and then he's practically laughing at me. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught my boot on the doorjamb and dropped my books. I stood there for a moment, thinking about leaving them. Then I sighed and bent to pick them up. He was there already there; finish placing them into a pile. He handed them to me, his face hard.

"Thank you," I said icily.

His eyes narrowed, however they still held a look of amusement.

"You're welcome," he replied amusingly.

I straightened up swiftly, turned away from him again and stalked off to Gym without looking back.

--

After school when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. I almost had a stroke. But my heart restarted its self when I realized it was just Eric. He had come to ask me to the school dance. I gave him the same answer that I had given Mike, telling him that I was going to be in Seattle that day. Do boys not understand what it means when a dance is a 'girls' choice'?

Edward was walking past the front of truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. I yanked the door to the truck open and jumped inside, slamming it loudly, behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there – to wait for his family; I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria, with the occasional small conversation to people that they passed. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my review mirror and saw that a line was beginning to form. Tyler Crowley was directly behind me in his recently acquired used Sentra. I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.

While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rearview mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.

"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed – obviously the hold wasn't my fault.

"Oh, I know – I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.

This couldn't be happening. Now if was confirmed that the boys don't understand the meaning of 'girls' choice'.

"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.

"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.

"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.

"Then why–"

He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."

Okay, it was completely his fault.

"Sorry, Tyler," I said, working to hide my irritation. "I really am going out of town."

"That's cool. We still have prom."

And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all sliding into the Volvo. In his rearview mirror, Edward's eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Tyler had said; as if put Tyler up to it. My foot itched toward the gas pedal...one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just the glossy sliver paint job. I revved the engine.

But they were all in, and Edward was speeding away. I drove home slowly, cautiously, grumbling to myself the whole way.

--

While I was simmering the onions and chilies – deciding to make chicken enchiladas for dinner –, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it – not wanting a repeat of what happened at school with Mike, Eric, _and_ Tyler –, but it might be Charlie or my mom.

Thankfully, it was only a jubilant Jessica; Mike had caught up with her after school to accept her invitation. After a brief celebration, while I stirred, she had to go. She wanted to tell Angela and Lauren to tell them. With casual innocence, I suggested that maybe Angela, the shy girl who had Biology with me, could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler. I heard that he was still available.

After I gave Jessica my Seattle excuse, I hung up and tried to concentrate on dinner, especially dicing the chicken. I didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But my head was spinning trying to analyze every word Edward had spoken today. What did he mean, it was simpler if we weren't friends?

My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must see how absorbed I was by him he must not want to lead me on...so we could even be friends...because he was interested in me at all. Or maybe it was because of all of the unwanted attention I received at school. And maybe because he received so much attention at school too and he didn't want any more...and thought that if I was just his _friend _he would get even more attention. But he didn't seem to care about all of the attention he got, – compared to his other siblings who either loved, like Emmett, or seemed like they didn't care but really knew who or when someone was staring, like Rosalie – sometimes it looked like he didn't even notice. Yeah right, I was totally kidding myself. Of course, he wasn't remotely interested.

Obviously, he wasn't interested in me, I thought angrily, my eye stinging – a delayed reaction to the onions. I wasn't _interesting_. And he was. Interesting...and brilliant...and mysterious...and perfect...and athletic...and beautiful.

Well, that was fine. I could leave him alone. I _would_ leave him alone. I would get through me self-imposed sentence here in purgatory, and than hopefully some school in Southwest, or possibly Hawaii, would offer me a scholarship. I focused my thoughts on sunny beaches and palm trees as I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.

--

Charlie seemed to like dinner. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting me in the kitchen. When he was almost done eating I asked him about him if I could make a trip to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday. I didn't want to ask permission – it set a bad precedent – but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end.

After convincing Charlie that it would be very boring when he asked if I want him to come – and after discussing why I was going and my trucks poor gas mileage – he agreed.

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

"Will you be back in time for the dance?"

Grrr. Only in a town this small would a _father _know when the high school dances were.

"No – I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people should understand that – I didn't get my balance problems from my mother.

He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized.

The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car. Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my keys and it fell into a puddle at my feet. I turned around to get my bag out of the cab before truing my attention to my keys. When I went to bend, I say a tall figure in front of me and immediately jerked upright. Edward Cullen was right next to me, leaning casually against my truck with me keys in his hand. I didn't even here him approach.

"Why do you _do_ that?" I asked in amazed irritation.

"Do what?" He held my keys out as he spoke. As I reached for it, he dropped it into my palm.

"Sneak up on people. You practically appear out of thin air."

"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." His voice as quite as usual – velvet, muted.

I scowled at his perfect face. Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts when I got lost in his amazingly bright emerald eyes. I didn't even think that I was possible to have eyes that green.

"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."

"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. He was talking about he wanted to ask you to the spring dance yesterday in gym but didn't know how. I had to give him his chance." He snickered.

"You..." I gasped. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn him, but he only seemed more amused.

"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.

"So you _are_ trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?"

Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line, all sign of humor gone.

"Bella, you are utterly absurd," he said, his voice low and cold.

My palms tingled – I wanted so badly to hit something. I was shocked at myself. I was usually a nonviolent person. I turned my back and started to walk away.

"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace.

"I'm sorry that was rude," he said as we walked. I ignored him. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say anyway."

"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled.

"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled. He seemed to have recovered his good humor.

"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I asked sternly.

"You're doing it again."

I sighed. "Fine then. What do you want to ask me?"

"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday – you know, the day of the spring dance –"

"Are you trying to be _funny_?" I interrupted him, wheeling towards him. My face got drenched as I looked up at his expression.

His eyes were cruelly amused. "Will you pleased allow me to finish?"

I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.

"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."

"What?" I wasn't sure what was he getting at.

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"

"With who?" I asked, confused.

"Myself, obviously." He answered, articulated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.

I was still stunned. _"Why?"_

"Well, I have some business I have to do in Seattle on that day, and to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."

"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." I started to walk again, but I was too surprised to sustain the same level of anger.

"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He harmonized with my pace again.

"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Volvo owner.

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."

"Honestly, Edward." I felt a trill go thought my whole body as I said his name, and I hated it. "I can keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."

"I said it would be simpler if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Oh, thanks, now that's _all _cleared up." Heavy sarcasm. I realized I had stopped walking again. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I could more easily look at his face. This definitely didn't help my clarity of my thought.

"It would be more... _primitive _for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."

His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence, his voice smoldering. I couldn't remember how to breathe.

"Will you go with me to Seattle?" he asked, still intense.

I couldn't speak yet, so I just nodded.

He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious.

"You really _shouldn't_ be friends with me," he advised. "I'll see you in class."

He turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.

**A/N: Just a question for all of you to ponder on. **

**What are Edward and Bella doing in Seattle now that things are different (because they're human)? Things are slowly but surly starting to change from ****the original Twilight and venturing into the Spotlight.**

**Thanks for reading and please remember to review.**


	6. Author's note

_**Hey it's me, 3ll3.**_

_**I know its has been forever since I last updated, but my life has been so crazy in almost every possible way. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about this story. I am currently working on my next chapter and hope to have it posed a.s.a.p. I just finished Breaking Dawn Last night and I really motivated. Anyways I just wanted to alter you all that I'm alive and kicking. I would love to hear your thoughts and what you thought of Breaking Dawn (those of you that have finished reading it) and also what you hope to perhaps read in my story in future chapters.**_

_**Thanks and feel free to PM me. :)**_


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